This invention relates to the processing of baked potatoes, and more particularly it relates to a method and apparatus for scooping meat from half of a baked potato or the like and recovering the skin and the potato meat as food products.
The nutritional value of potato skins has long been known and in recent years they have become a popular food product. Potato meat from a baked potato or other cooked potato is frequently used in the preparation of the products. However, it is a difficult task to mechanically scoop the meat from a baked potato and recover both the shell and the meat so that the shell or skin is in satisfactory condition for marketing. It is generally necessary to conduct such operation by hand. Equipment for holding fruits such as citrus fruits which have been cut in half are also well known but these are not satisfactory for the intended purpose of the present invention because in those instances the shell or skin of the fruit is subjected to rough treatment. Consequently, such equipment would not be satisfactory for marketing an edible potato skin product where it is important that it be of good quality and have a measured thickness of retained meat.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an efficient apparatus for recovery of potato shells from parts of cooked potatoes such as the half shell of a baked potato. It is a further object to conduct the operation with equipment wherein the potato skin is recovered in good condition while having a retained wall thickness, or depth of potato meat, within the potato shell.